righteousness-credit

Redemption 304: Righteousness on Credit
biblestudying.net
As can be seen from the definition below, “logizomai” has a range of related
meanings, which includes, “to reckon, count, compute, calculate, take into
account, or make an account of.”
3049 logizomai
middle voice from 3056; TDNT-4:284,536; v
AV-think 9, impute 8, reckon 6, count 5, account 4, suppose 2, reason 1, number
1, misc 5; 41
1) to reckon, count, compute, calculate, count over
1a) to take into account, to make an account of
1a1) metaph. to pass to one’s account, to impute
1a2) a thing is reckoned as or to be something, i.e. as availing for or equivalent to
something, as having the like force and weight
1b) to number among, reckon with
1c) to reckon or account
2) to reckon inward, count up or weigh the reasons, to deliberate
3) by reckoning up all the reasons, to gather or infer
3a) to consider, take into account, weigh, meditate on
3b) to suppose, deem, judge
3c) to determine, purpose, decide
A survey of the 41 times that “logizomai” is used in the New Testament quickly
reveals that it is typically used to refer to considering, esteeming, or deeming
something to be of particular category or status. Or in other words, apart from the
13 verses immediately above in Romans, James, and Galatians, “logizomai” is not
necessarily used to refer to financial assessments. However, its definition does
include as a primary meaning, the concepts of “counting” and “calculating” in the
sense of taking an account. But the linguistic aspect of “logizomai” that is most
relevant to this study is the fact that it is a derivative of “logos” (Strong’s No.
3056), which can also be seen from the second line of the definition above, which
reads, “middle voice from 3056.”
“Logos” is a word that is very broadly used in the New Testament and perhaps
equally broad in the range of its meaning. It can designate anything from a simple
“word, saying, or speech” to the concept of “doctrine or teaching” to faculties of
the mind, such as “reasoning, meditating, or mental calculating.” And it is also
used as a technical term for the Word of God, the Second Person of the Trinity. It
occurs 330 times in the New Testament. With such a wide range of meaning and
usage, how does either “logos” or “logizomai” point specifically to the idea of
righteousness as an unearned credit for future righteous living and works?
The answer comes from a passage that we looked at earlier and promised to
revisit, Matthew 18. Matthew 18 records Jesus’ parable concerning forgiveness
illustrated by a king reviewing his servant’s account records, erasing the servant’s
debt and instead crediting the servant with good financial standing. For the
purpose of this study, what is interesting is that Matthew 18:23 uses the word
“logos” to denote the king’s accounting of the servant’s financial status.
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